A group of soldiers from the 344 Military Intelligence Battalion at Goodfellow AFB has been moving at forced march pace since 0400, focused on training for an upcoming mission as they march up and down the rough hills of Burma Road.
They will complete 20 miles of fast marching before most people have finished their Saturday morning coffee.
No running shoes or high tech outdoor gear for these soldiers — they’re wearing Army-issue uniforms and combat boots, carrying food and water and some team members are loaded down with 35-pound rucksacks.
Although these soldiers are highly-trained veterans of previous deployments, the mission they’re training for during this march will not take place in an overseas combat zone.
Instead, they’ll be joining other soldiers and civilians from across the nation on March 23 to march 26.2 miles through the hostile desert environment of White Sands Missile Range during the annual Bataan Memorial Death March.
The Bataan memorial march, first held in 1989, honors the World War II heroes who were responsible for the defense of the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the Philippines.
On April 9, 1942, 72,000 captured American and Filipino soldiers were forced to march 63 miles from Mariveles on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula to a Japanese prison camp in the northern end.
Thousands died as they were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. The harsh conditions and treatment of the prisoners during the march to the prison camp resulted in an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 deaths.
SFC Heinz Cook, team captain for one of the teams from the 344th, says “The Bataan Death March is one of those special events where the athletic accomplishment takes a back seat to the history behind it and the respect and pride felt for the Soldiers that died in Bataan. One of the things I am looking forward to is the opportunity to meet survivors of Bataan and thank them for their sacrifice and service.”
LTC Devon Blake, commander of Goodfellow’s 344th MI Battalion and one of the team members, reinforces the group’s reason for doing the march.
“I feel it important to never forget the history of our brothers and sisters in arms that came before us,” notes Blake. “The least I can do is to pay tribute to the helpless victims that died during that horrific event, as well as those that endured the physical abuse and torture during the march to the prison camp.”
The 16 Goodfellow soldiers preparing for the Bataan Memorial Death March will be competing as part of three teams, one all-female and the other two coed.
Their training for the challenging event includes both the normal Army PT five days per weeks and then additional long march training after duty hours.
SFC Kristie Young, a member of the all-female team from the 344th, described the training that the teams are doing.
“We train together three times a week,” says Young. “We meet twice during the week for 1-1.5 hours of walking with some running, usually getting in 5-6.5 miles in that time. The pace for our training marches workouts is 13 to 15 minutes per mile but we push faster for shorter workouts.”
“We also do a long march on Saturdays, adding two miles each weekend so as to peak at 20 miles before we start tapering for the event.”
Although the long marching workouts might seem very similar to training for a marathon or long-distance trail run, the Goodfellow soldiers say there are some significant differences.
“When you run you look forward to that ‘runners high’ somewhere during the run,” explained SSG Miguel Quiroz. “With ruck marches (carrying a heavy pack) you don’t experience anything similar to that. It just gets more and more painful. By the end of each march you are cursing yourself for putting your body through something like this.”
SSG Mark Dowd also notes that wearing Army-issue combat boots instead of running shoes is another issue that Bataan team members must deal with.
“Training started off badly for me,” said Dowd. “I made the mistake of wearing brand-new boots on my first day and tore some pretty deep half-inch blisters in both heels. I wore old boots the next time we went out and felt much better.”
If you’re out for a run or bike ride and see these soldiers marching along the road, stop, come to attention, and give them a proper salute.
They’re focused on completing a tough mission to honor American heroes from a past war, and both the past and present day heroes deserve our respect.
Remember — soldiers from the 344th will be marching to remember Bataan.
Upcoming Events
Mar 8: Trail running series
#3, roadlizards.org
Mar 15: Shamrock Run 5K,
roadlizards.org
Mar 22: Crazy Desert Trail
Race, roadlizards.org
Mar 22: Steam-N-Wheels
cycling race and tour, Abilene, bikereg.com/Net/steam-n-wheels
Mar 29: Run for the Wounded
Warrior 5K, angelo.edu/asufit
April 5: Bikes for Trykes cycling tour,
eventbrite.com/contact-organizer?eid=10199820939
April 12: Moon Pie night trail run, roadlizards.org
No comments:
Post a Comment